On December 17, 2019 Microsoft has released its quarterly updates for Exchange Server:
- Exchange 2016 CU15.
- Exchange 2019 CU4 (only available via Volume License).
There are a couple of things that are worth noting:
- Both Exchange server versions need the .NET Framework 4.8. If you are running an older version of Exchange (much older) consult Michel de Rooij’s blogpost Upgrade Paths for CU’s and .NET.
- If you are running an Exchange Hybrid version there’s the n-1 policy. This means your on-premises versions of Exchange should be Exchange 2016 CU14 or Exchange 2019 CU3 at minimum.
- There’s an update on the Exchange calculator which is now version 10.3.
- There are no schema changes compared to the previous version so there’s no need to run Setup.exe /PrepareSchema. I always recommend running Setup.exe /PrepareAD to make sure any additional features or changes like (for example) RBAC are applied correctly.
So now real new features which is in line with Microsoft’s strategy. If you need the latest and greatest then Exchange Online is the way to go. If you need a stable on-premises environment you’re good with Exchange 2016 or Exchange 2019.
More information
Released: December 2019 Quarterly Exchange Updates
Exchange 2016 CU15 Download: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100780
Exchange 2016 CU15 UM Pack: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100781
Jaap Wesselius 